I Want­ed Fries With That: How to Ask for What You Want and Get What You Need

Jews expe­ri­ence injus­tices large and small — the restau­rant botch­ing our bagel shmear, car deal­er­ship not return­ing our calls, or find­ing bacon in the syn­a­gogue fridge. Often, we suf­fer in silence for fear of offend­ing any­one, or we kvetch too loud­ly and risk being ignored. In I Want­ed Fries with That, Jew­ish author Amy Fish encour­ages read­ers to com­plain effec­tive­ly. In her career as a uni­ver­si­ty ombuds­man, Fish has dealt with thou­sands of com­plaints — some triv­ial some seri­ous — and gained action­able insights about what works. Her sug­ges­tions will appeal to any­one who likes to com­plain or wish­es they could speak up, but aren’t sure where to start, includ­ing man­agers nav­i­gat­ing work­place dis­putes, cou­ples who argue about the same things over and over, and even com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers on com­mit­tees that aren’t work­ing. Illus­trat­ing her points with fun­ny real-life sto­ries, Fish reveals prag­mat­ic meth­ods to redress griev­ances with civil­i­ty, hon­esty, and fair­ness for every­one involved — whether you’re try­ing to right the wrongs of the world, or just claim the French fries you ordered.